Spencer did win the R&B song Grammy, and the group also received a nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group that year. It was released on the now-defunct Metromedia label, which might account for its scarcity now.
Up until now, that was all I knew about them- I certainly wasn't aware of them being mixed race.
David-perhaps so. Looks like Metromedia Records was a subsidiary of a media company with the same name. They owned tv and radio stations. Seems like music was just a side hustle for them. The label existed from 1969 to 1974 and their best selling artist was teen idol Bobby Sherman. The umbrella media company owned the Ice Capades, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Orion movie studio at various points, before ultimately selling to Rupert Murdoch/20th Century Fox in 1985 and ceasing to be.
I only recently learned of his story, but it is pretty heartbreaking. I'm guessing it's the kind of thing that happens to these forgotten side-players all the time. The far less glamorous side of a life in music.
Spencer did win the R&B song Grammy, and the group also received a nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group that year. It was released on the now-defunct Metromedia label, which might account for its scarcity now.
Up until now, that was all I knew about them- I certainly wasn't aware of them being mixed race.
David-perhaps so. Looks like Metromedia Records was a subsidiary of a media company with the same name. They owned tv and radio stations. Seems like music was just a side hustle for them. The label existed from 1969 to 1974 and their best selling artist was teen idol Bobby Sherman. The umbrella media company owned the Ice Capades, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Orion movie studio at various points, before ultimately selling to Rupert Murdoch/20th Century Fox in 1985 and ceasing to be.
The Metromedia TV stations were the backbone of the FOX TV network, which Murdoch and TCF launched in 1987.
The fate of the drummer behind this is tragic. Since I first heard this tale, whenever I encounter the Amen Break, it makes me a little sad.
I only recently learned of his story, but it is pretty heartbreaking. I'm guessing it's the kind of thing that happens to these forgotten side-players all the time. The far less glamorous side of a life in music.